The anatomy of the human body / By J. Cruveilhier.

  • Cruveilhier, J. (Jean), 1791-1874.
Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The anatomy of the human body / By J. Cruveilhier. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Lamar Soutter Library, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Lamar Soutter Library at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

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    ganization and life to a healthy condition, constitutes the science of medicine; and the station which I have just assigned to this most important branch of zoological science will prove, better than any arguments, that the study of the physiological or healthy state of organization and of life should precede that of their pathological or diseased conditions ; and that anatomy forms the first link in the chain of medical science. Each science has its own methods of investigation, and its peculiar elements of cer- tainty. Metaphysics and moral philosophy have a metaphysical and moral certainty. The mathematical sciences set out from a small number of self-evident propositions or axioms founded upon the nature of things, proceed gradually from the known to the un- known, and trust to problems already demonstrated as to so many axioms, by means of which, as steps, they again ascend towards new truths. The natural sciences, again, are founded upon observation, and observation is merely the evidence of our senses; hence arises the necessity of exercising them, in order to increase their acuteness and their activity. Facts, therefore, constitute the elements of the natural sciences ; and then reasoning follows, founded upon those facts and upon analogy. It would be absurd to study the natural sciences after the same method as metaphysics. It may readily be understood, that as the purely physical sciences are based upon con- stant phenomena, mathematics are directly applicable to them, and hence they are termed physico-mathematical sciences; but in the zoological sciences, effects are continually varying, according to their causes. Any attempts, therefore, to apply the art of numbers to the elements of medicine, would be to imitate the philosopher, Condorcet, who enter- tained the whimsical notion of subjecting moral probabilities to the test of mathematical precision; who was anxious to substitute a-\-b for either oral or written legal testimony; who admitted half proofs and fractional proofs, and then reduced them to equations, by means of which he supposed he could arrive at arithmetical decisions, regarding the lives, the fortunes, and the characters of his fellow-men. It must, however, be reluctantly confessed, that we can acquire a knowledge only of the surfaces of a body; and that to say we are acquainted with its texture, is to state, in other words, that we have a knowledge of the smallest surfaces comprised within its general surface. Sight, touch, &c., the only means of investigation by which we can appreciate the qualities of matter in general, can recognise nothing but surfaces, appear- ances, and relative properties. Absolute properties they are unable to detect. With our organization, we shall never know of what material objects essentially consist, but only what they are in relation to ourselves. This work being essentially of an elementary nature, and in some measure adapted for the lecture-room, I have endeavoured to confine myself within narrow limits, and strictly to avoid all considerations which are not immediately connected with the anato- my of organs. At the same time I have not forgotten that this work was intended for the student of medicine, and not for the naturalist; I have, therefore, been induced, in the following pages, if not expressly to indicate, at least to direct attention to the more immediate applications of anatomy to physiology, surgery, and medicine. The objects which I have constantly had in view have been to exhibit the actual state of the science of anatomy ; to present its numerous facts in their most natural order ; to describe each fact clearly, precisely, and methodically; to adopt such a method as would form an easy guide to the student, and not involve him in confusion ; and, lastly, to give to each detail its pecuhar value, by invariably directing particular attention to the more important points, instead of confounding them with matters of less consequence, in an indigested and monotonous enumeration of facts. The following is the order in which the principal divisions of the subject have been treated. The first division comprises Osteology, Arthrology or Syjidcsmology, and Odontology. 1. Osteology, which, notwithstanding the great number of works on the subject, seems always to offer some new facts to those who study it with zeal, has been treated with the attention it deserves, as forming the basis of anatomical knowledge. An account of the development of the osseous system has appeared to me necessary for the comple- tion of its history. I have therefore considered the following points in connexion with the development of each bone : the number of ossific points ; the time of appearance of the primitive and complementary ossifie points ; the periods at which the several points unite, and the changes occurring in the bone subsequently to its growth. By adopting this method, the most complicated ossifications are reduced to a few propositions easily retained in the memory. The inconvenience arising from including in a description of the bones all the attach- ments of the muscles, and nearly the whole anatomy of the part, is so totally at variance with a methodical arrangement of facts, that it is unnecessary to offer an apology for the changes made in this respect. Occasionally, however, I have mentioned those muscu- lar attachments which might serve to characterize the osseous surfaces on which they are situated. 2. Under the title of Syndcsmology, or Arthrology, are united all the articulations of the human body. Assuming as the only basis of classification the form of the articula- ted surfaces, which is always in accordance with the means of union and the movements of the joint, I have been induced to modify the divisions usually adopted. Tlie condylar-